Verizon sees content, IoT and 5G as strategic investments
Recognizing stiff competition for the U.S. wireless consumer, executives from Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile US described various strategies to look beyond their traditional competitive positions in order to continue growth.
In remarks at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam noted the company’s recent fiber investments as part of its overall connectivity strategy, but also added that the company is also investing in content with its pending acquisition of Yahoo’s internet assets, and in internet of things support through investing in sensors and intelligent transportation through its purchases of Telogis and Fleetmatics and smart city-related purchases such as LQD Wi-Fi kiosks.
McAdam also spoke about Verizon’s explorations in fixed wireless “5G” testing, and said that the technology “is a no-brainer in urban and suburban markets. The question is, can you go out to that town of 500 people? … I think broadband is the thing that is going to provide the economic engine, and the farther we can push that out into the various geographies, that’s kind of what excites me right now.”
McAdam also hinted at new pricing strategies ahead for Verizon. The company recently followed other carriers into offering unlimited plans, but McAdam said that “unlimited is not the end state, it’s a step along the way. We think there’s plenty of opportunity for us to innovate between AOL, Yahoo, and the main core of the business.” Later in the discussion, he added that “we see, let’s just say, different products and different structures that’ll be rolling out even the second half of this year, and then on into ’18.”
Sprint talks densification, handset strategy
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said that Sprint plans to do “massive densification” of its network, and that the carrier is focused on improving its network in the markets its serves. But he added that Sprint has also started a program “in which we are going to continue to expand the network in places where Sprint traditionally wasn’t.”
In terms of handset strategy, Claure mentioned that Sprint’s device upgrade programs will mean that the company will have millions of devices being turned in this year as users upgrade their smartphones. He said that the carrier has plans to announce “special relationships … that will allow us to basically put … devices back into the hands of consumers who cannot afford that iconic device on the first round.”
T-Mobile US seeks to “perfect” its coverage to serve new markets
T-Mobile US CFO Braxton Carter said that the carrier is looking at several “growth adjacencies,” including pursuing more enterprise customers.
“For a lot of reasons, primarily network, we’ve never had our relative fair share of enterprise,” Carter said. “What we’re seeing with where our network is today, is tremendous momentum with enterprise. … There is a very significant population of the U.S. that we think we can go after with the enterprise part of the business.”
Carter said that T-Mobile will cover 320 million potential customers with LTE coverage by the end of this year, and that as it “perfects” its coverage to be “high-quality and fully relevant” to markets where it has little to no penetration, the company expects to be able to effectively market to an additional 30 to 40 million people. In addition, Carter noted, T-Mobile US is boosting its retail reach through a ramp-up of 1,000 indirect stores through the middle of this year and another 500 by year-end. Carter said that T-Mobile US will continue to expand its retail presence with its own branded stores once penetration reaches critical mass.
Carter and Claure also talked about potential synergies of a potential merger between their companies. Read more on that here.
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